The Mystic Hands of Dr. Strange

What I try to do with reviews at this Bookshelf blog is keep it simple and spoiler-free, and let you know whether I'd recommend you pick up a copy of what I just read. Seems to work okay. This time, a brief review of The Mystic Hands of Dr. Strange (Marvel, 2010)



Well, here's the most interesting thing I've heard of Marvel publishing in a long time. I got the world late that the wonderful Frazer Irving had some artwork in this new anthology book, so I swung by the closest comic shop to me on my way home last week to have a glance at it, and liked the book so much I bought it to read at length. This was a good choice on my part; it's a splendid little one-shot, and one definitely worth picking up yourself.

The book is an homage to the old black and white Marvel magazines of the seventies, only published in a traditional comic book size. It features four short stories about Greenwich Village's sorcerer supreme, with stories and art by Irving, Kieron Gillen, Pete Milligan, Mike Carey, Ted McKeever and Frank Brunner. That's not at all a bad lineup of talent.

The comics, sensibly, are free from Marvel's tangled continuity and just tell cool adventures full of demons and double-dealings. It was a really fun read and I just wish Marvel could publish stand-alone books of this sort regularly. Recommended.